John Goodman makes rare comments about weight loss and sobriety

Leigh BlickleyTue, October 20, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC

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John Goodman in September at the premiere of ‘Digger’Credit: David Jon/GettyKey Points -

John Goodman shared rare comments on weight loss and his sobriety journey.

The actor also opened up about the downside to losing weight.

Goodman currently stars in Digger alongside Tom Cruise.

John Goodman weighed nearly 400 pounds when he finally decided to change his life.

“I was eating alcoholically after I stopped drinking,” Goodman, 74, confessed to The New Yorker in a profile published on Sunday. Goodman was a longtime drinker and got sober in his 50s in 2007 after he “got sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The Digger star said that, prior to his sobriety journey, he tried to lose weight on-and-off — but nothing ever stuck.

“I’d lose 60 pounds in a summer, gain it all back. Seventy pounds, 80 pounds. And that got tiring,” he told The New Yorker. “I took steps so I wouldn’t have to do that anymore. I was almost 400 pounds.”

On top of dieting, Goodman had “an operation on my stomach,” but that led to even more health woes.

“I also turned anemic and lost a layer of fat under my skin,” he shared with the outlet, rubbing his forearm, “and I’m cold all the time.”

Although he didn’t disclose what type of stomach surgery he had, according to Cedars-Sinai, anemia can occur after weight-loss surgery, and reduced body fat can make someone more sensitive to cold. Anemia can interfere with oxygen delivery throughout the body due to lower levels of red blood cells, while fat beneath the skin helps insulate it.

John Goodman on ‘Roseanne’Credit: Everett

Throughout the profile, the Roseanne star brought up his lifelong battle with alcoholism and mentioned that his addiction “sustained” his “immaturity.” When he got sober at 55, he realized his “big kid” mentality was going to have to change in some ways.

“If I did [think about losing the ‘happy guy’ onscreen persona], it was a secondary thought, because I was saving my life at that point,” Goodman admitted. “Whatever it took to stay sober, which came very easily.”

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He added in the interview, “The thing about instant gratification is you don’t really care what’s going to happen right after it — which always led to bigger hangovers or me getting the shakes, and having to drink to get rid of the shakes, and that vicious cycle. I was in a position, when I quit, where I had to be hospitalized one way or the other. I just was tired of it, and I wanted to stop. I was delaying my maturation by drinking, and I had a lot of catching up to do, just realizing how selfish it made me. I was overlooking real life. And it was great to see there was a life where I didn’t have to use anything to enjoy it.”

Nowadays, Goodman is just trying to relax, something he continuously referenced in his New Yorker interview. Midway through the chat, the reporter claimed Goodman had to take a vape break and scolded himself for his inability to “loosen up.”

“I’ll never be able to explain it,” he said of delivering countless charismatic performances in light of his personal struggles. “There’s been a lot of therapy. I’m happy now. I just wish I was better spoken and I could relax more.”

He added, “Acting has always been very good to me. I do work too hard at it. I like to do my research, but I keep pushing myself. I’m going to try to shove back whatever that need is, so I can relax more when I’m on camera or I’m onstage. Whatever I’m doing is unnecessarily hard work, to the point where I get too hung up on lines, because I overwork them, and I naturally forget them because I’m working at it too hard. I’d like to dial back. The best stuff happens when I’m relaxed.”

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Goodman, beloved for his roles in films like The Big Lebowski, The Flintstones, and Raising Arizona, is now just trying to take on roles that make him happy while enjoying a peaceful life in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife of 37 years, Anna Beth.

“It’s quiet,” he said of his neighborhood. “If I can get into a routine, it’s almost ideal, because I have a great trainer down the road, and plenty of beautiful weather to walk in.”

Goodman said he’s focused on “building up the core, balance, strength training, stuff like that, so I don’t fall down,” after he fell on the set of Digger last year and fractured his hip. He was “functional within a month” of surgery.

Digger is in theaters now.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

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